Austin Texas Real Estate Blog

Spring cleaning is an annual ritual for most homeowners: throwing out the old, dusting and shining up the new, and generally giving the whole house a thorough scrubbing and polishing. Environmental responsibility has added a new twist to this old tradition, however; many Austin residents now choose to go green when they spring clean. Here are some ways to improve your home’s environment while preserving the earth’s environment at the same time.

Downsize and minimize
Most homeowners accumulate a surprising amount of clutter over the years, keeping a wide array of items that are never used. By reducing the amount of unused items in your home, you can more easily keep it clean and organized, allowing your spring cleaning process to go more smoothly next year. It’s important to be realistic. If you’ve only used your elaborate espresso machine twice since you bought it, chances are you don’t really need it after all. By clearing out unused items, you can save on space and minimize your cleaning time considerably.

Don’t toss it, donate it
Used items in good repair are always in demand by various charities. Thrift stores and local organizations often derive a significant portion of their income from these donations. Depending on the specific charity, you may be able to donate:

• Clothing
• Books
• Furniture
• Automobiles
• Large and small appliances
• Tableware and silverware
• Toys
• Home décor

Best of all, you can often deduct the fair market value of donated items on next year’s tax return, making it a win-win situation for everyone involved.

Avoid harsh chemical cleaners
A number of green cleansers are available on the market; alternatively, you can make your own with borax, baking soda, vinegar, and other natural substances. These are gentler on the environment and easier on your wallet as well. To avoid pests, use natural repellents like cedar wood, garlic, and various essential oils and herbs. Mice hate the smell of peppermint oil, for instance; sprinkling a few drops on a piece of cloth will help keep them out of your closet or kitchen.

Recycle
For items that can’t be reused or donated due to damage or wear, recycling is the next best thing. Used computer equipment, appliances, cell phones, plastics, glass, and paper can all be recycled through various companies and organizations. By minimizing the amount of trash that goes to landfills, you can help to keep the environment safe and minimize your environmental footprint.

By incorporating environmentally friendly methods into your spring cleaning routine, you can ensure that your home is a healthier, safer place to live both inside and out.

The State of Texas is prepared to spend big money to lure social networking site Facebook to the Austin area. The $1.4 million incentive package is intended to make Austin even more attractive to Facebook, which has its main corporate headquarters in Palo Alto, California and has recently announced plans to open a national office outside the California area. The new office is expected to provide around 200 well-paying jobs in the sales, customer service and risk management fields, making it a valuable asset for the city Facebook selects. The incentive package offered by Texas will be funded by the Texas Enterprise Fund and is dependent on the city of Austin agreeing to ante up approximately $200,000 worth of local incentives; the proposed incentive plan will go before a public hearing on March 11, 2010.

Austin has long been considered one of the high-tech centers in the region, and the addition of a national Facebook office would add to the city’s well-deserved reputation. Chief Operating Officer of Facebook Sheryl Sandberg indicated that Austin was under serious consideration as a potential site for the office, stating “Austin, with its deep talent pool, would allow us to hire the high-caliber employees we need to properly serve the people, advertisers and developers that rely on our service.” Facebook currently has over 400 million active users, so its presence in Austin would be a high-profile addition to the city’s already vibrant high-tech industry scene.

This is not the first time a major online company has chosen Austin as a site for expansion; Google opened an office in Austin in 2008, but closed it along with several other offices worldwide soon after due to financial cutbacks throughout the company. While only twenty jobs were lost due to the closing, the Austin community felt the blow to its reputation as a high-tech hub. If Austin is able to snag the Facebook office, the effects will be felt not only economically but also psychologically throughout the region.

Facebook’s interest in opening an Austin office follows on the heels of recent announcements by LegalZoom and Pioneer Surgical Technology to open offices in Austin; LegalZoom’s new expansion is expected to bring around 600 jobs to Austin in the next few years, while Pioneer Surgical’s new office will employ around 30 people when it opens in the second quarter of this year. These acquisitions are expected to boost the local economy still further in the latter part of 2010.

Well, it’s been a long time and I have to admit, that I am surprised super happy that REALTORS Property Resource,LLC has shared the Content License Agreement with NAR’s members. I just read about the revamped RPR agreement on Inman News. Seems to be a pretty long document, but as Brian Larson pointed out, the more clear and complete the agreement winds up being, the less trouble there will be down the road. I couldn’t agree more.

Ok, so I’m like a kid on Christmas morning and would love to have more to post now, but I’ve got to grab a glass of wine, sit by the fire (it’s snowing today in Austin), and crank through this baby!

And to RPR, thanks for ruining my funny use of this clip. :-P

It would have been something like, How RPR Responds to questions…

NAR makes it rain to the tune of $20MM for the boys at RPR!

I’ll be the first to say that technology can be sexy. Especially, when it’s technology that you wished you had. That kind of thinking makes me wonder if NAR didn’t fall in love with the idea of the REALTOR Property Resource and make a mistake by funding it completely alone.

A luxury once tasted, becomes a necessity. Not sure who coined that, but it’s very true. Use the new iPhone and it’s the next item on the shopping list; buy a GPS and it’s hard to imagine getting around without it. Now put yourself in NAR’s position. There are some awfully talented guys who used to run Cyberhomes. They have been with Fidelity, have been with LPS, and they’re used to selling to REALTORS with sexy looking technology. (LPS is a MLS provider.) Now take these Cyberhomes guys, put them in a room with some REALTORS who run the Association, and the Association’s big fat checkbook and what do you think the outcome will be???

I’m thinking a $20MM company replete with Cyberhomes guys and paid for by Joe and Jane REALTOR. Note that the CEO and a VP are actually brokers, which makes me feel a lot better. Of course, the details are not there for us to see. I mean, sure, there are a few extremely vague agreement drafts floating around there, there are likely some coders integrating data, maybe a few social media evangelists (we met Reggie of RPR in a previous post), and other than that, a whole lot of sealed lips.You can get some great info over at MLS Tesseract if you want to bone up on the current state of RPR. The lack of communication and attempt to get buy in is for some other posts so back to the main thought of this post.

Did NAR fall in love and blow $20 large on RPR? I think they might have.

But why do you think this Joe? Aside from the obvious reasons that we all sell locally (so why do we need a national system) and the fact that the resources they are aggregating are already out there, FOR FREE; Well, I was reading press releases and news stories about the past wonderful experiences that NAR and business partner/related tech companies have had and a few things popped up.

Remember HomeStore.com? Remember the CEO of HomeStore.com who was sentenced to 15 years in a Federal facility for defrauding investors. The outcome, just a little loss of $100 Million dollars to investors and stockholders. No biggie there. I mean it wasn’t Enron and at least NAR wasn’t the sole owner of that baby, who by the way is now called Move.com. Just for your reference that Move stock is now trading at about $1.30 per share down from it’s all time high of something like $102. (Note that Move.com is currently worth less than 70% of LoopNet and less than 50% of CoStar.)

So then I decided to check out what NAR had said about Realtor.com. How was this such a success when HomeStore and Move were disasters less than ideal engagements. Here is what I found interesting that either NAR has forgotten or the fun bunch from Cyberhomes helped them over look. My commentary in blue.

Directly from the Press Release

…
History of REALTOR.com
In November 1996, the Board of Directors of the National Association of REALTORS® approved an agreement between the REALTORS® Information Network (RIN)—NAR’s wholly-owned subsidiary–and RealSelect, Inc. to take over the operations of NAR’s official Internet site, REALTOR.com. At the time, many business models were considered to finance the development of REALTOR.com.

NAR’s Leadership Team decided against using dues dollars or asking for a special assessment of the membership to fund REALTOR.com. While Homestore and its investors have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to build and operate REALTOR.com, no NAR funds or NAR member dues dollars have ever been used for the creation or operation of the site.

Remember the fraud guy and the hundreds of millions of dollars. Seemed like a good idea then. With the current load of fraud ala Madoff, Standford, and the list continues, it SEEMS LIKE A BETTER IDEA NOW.

…

Key Provisions in the Operating Agreement
The operating agreement negotiated more than eight years ago contained a number of important provisions ensuring NAR’s control over the content and operations of the site. Those provisions remain in full force today and continue to guide the relationship between NAR and Homestore (NASDAQ: HOMS), which owns RealSelect.

Homestore operates REALTOR.com as a business. Its separation from NAR allows the company to make decisions that could potentially pose difficult problems for a trade association on business terms. These include the pricing of REALTOR.com products and services to REALTORS® and the development and marketing of new products and services.

Ok. Why has this changed? I mean, I love technology as much as the next guy, but if there aren’t private investors out there willing to provide funding then maybe the NAR shouldn’t step in an fund this start up with member dollars. Are any of the NAR board members technology incubator guys? What about venture capital guys with experience in taking a technology startup from soup to nuts??? I’m sure the guys from Cyberhomes are stoked. “Hey check this Bobby, we got an angel investor and get to play start-up now with other people’s money.” Also, since the exact product offerings are not set in stone, nor are any pricing models for members, what’s the deal here? Before owning the whole enchilada posed difficult problems, now, now sweat.

Outlook for the Future
Homestore has survived the shake-out among dot com start-up companies and complete turnover in its management team. It has undergone major cost-cutting and restructuring to adjust to changing business realities. Certainly, its relationship with NAR has helped see it through challenging times and REALTOR.com has never lost its lead in the real estate space.

The two organizations have continued their relationship essentially unchanged because they both benefit. Homestore has access to the best brand in real estate and NAR has a vehicle to provide its members a strong presence on the Internet without incurring the cost or risk of operating REALTOR.com itself. Time and trials have tested the formula, and now it’s poised for new growth, profitability and service to REALTORS®, shareholders and consumers alike.

…

Um. yeah. If I hadn’t sworn off the blink tag long ago, the middle sentence above would be blinking like John McCain at a presidential debate. Why has the time tested formula been changed? Remember what happened when Coke tried that??

So now you see why I think NAR fell in love with RPR and wrote a fat $20MM check. The past taught us as an association what works, why it works, and leave it to NAR to forget the history only 10-15 years in the rear view. As a NAR member, it saddens me. As a technology guy, it frightens me.

I’d love to hear from other agents, brokers, MLS folks, even some of those tight-lipped RPR people are welcome here. Maybe if we knew more about what was going on some of the skepticism would melt away. That remains to be seen.

St. David’s HealthCare recently announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire the Heart Hospital of Austin, Texas from MedCath Corporation, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. St. David’s, one of the largest employers in Austin, has long been considered a leader in the healthcare field throughout the region. This acquisition is expected to allow the St. David’s HealthCare team to provide an even higher quality of care and increase efficiency throughout the system.

St. David’s currently has twenty-four sites throughout Austin and the surrounding area, making it one of the largest healthcare organizations in Texas. It was the fifth largest employer in Austin before this acquisition, and is expected to move up in rank when the transfer becomes complete sometime later this year. The two companies are awaiting final regulatory commission approval for the acquisition.

St. David’s HealthCare has achieved high marks for employee satisfaction, ranking number one in the 2007, 2008, and 2009 Austin Business Journal’s list of “Best Places to Work” in Austin. It encompasses six of the metropolitan area’s major hospitals and has been awarded the Texas Award for Performance Excellence for its outstanding patient care and quality medical services. The addition of Heart Hospital will allow St. David’s to further solidify its position as the leading healthcare provider in the Austin area; the Heart Hospital of Austin was recently named by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as the best place in the country to be treated for a heart attack.

For Austin residents, this acquisition is expected to further cement Austin’s position as the leading healthcare industry center in the state of Texas and to provide additional employment opportunities in the area. Austin’s already high quality of life is also expected to improve as a result of the St. David’s HealthCare expansion and acquisition. Since the Heart Hospital of Austin will now be under local administration and ownership, the Austin economy is expected to see benefits from the acquisition as well; the streamlining of services and procedures will further improve the quality of patient care in the area and should serve as an additional attraction for businesses looking to relocate to the Austin area.

Yesterday, I was browsing around the net and came across another post on RPR. That’s REALTOR Property Resource for those of you not familiar. It would be awesome to get some good answers back from someone intimately involved in the RPR project, but, I have yet to get public responses to my comments calling into question the usefulness, plans, or financials around the RPR. I should have known that if RPR has a director of social media (Reggie Nicolay), that RPR might want to control the spin in the social media outlets. Oh well, that’s the blog owner’s prerogative, even if I think it’s a disservice to other agents who read that blog.

[UPDATE] Geek Estate Blog confirmed that my comment in question of the RPR was not deleted, but instead went to spam. My apologies to GeekEstateBlog and Reggie Nicolay.

Back to the actual RPR itself. According to NAR and the folks hired to run the RPR, it will be the panacea for all our woes. The press release below is typical of the media surrounding NAR’s new national property database. You can read the full release here: http://www.realtor.org/press_room/news_releases/2009/11/tech_property

My comments are RED and inline in the press release below.

NAR Tech Acquisition Will Create National Property Database
Washington, November 09, 2009

The National Association of Realtors® has acquired technology to create a database of all properties in the U.S. so Realtors® can better assist consumers in a high-tech, fast-paced business world.

Guess what? Agents don’t sell in Austin Texas on Monday morning, then board a jet and sell in Salt Lake City Tuesday. Real estate is a local business for the vast majority of practitioners. Yeah, if you work at a REIT you may be jet setting and buying across the nation for pension funds, but you make plenty of money and have better data than will any national database created for REALTORS.

The technology acquisition includes licensed data and secured data aggregation services from LPS Real Estate Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lender Processing Services Inc. (NYSE:LPS), a leader in real estate technology. NAR will use the assets to develop the Realtors® Property ResourceTM, a parcel-centric information database covering all of the more than 147 million property parcels in the country as a resource for NAR members. NAR is planning to launch RPRTM in the second quarter 2010.

This paragraph is particularly useful when you hear from an RPR evangelist that it’s not going to cost you anything. Of course, NAR used NAR funds to buy these assets. So my question is, if it’s not the member’s money, whose money is it? Did NAR get a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation? I don’t think so.

“Realtors® are the first, best source for real estate information, and the RPR™ is another emphatic feature to that resource. RPR™ will give Realtors® nationwide data on all properties at their fingertips so they can respond quickly to consumers interested in residential and commercial real estate. This is exciting news and a terrific NAR member benefit. NAR is committed to keep Realtors® central to the transaction and to the buying and selling experience with their clients and customers,” said NAR President Charles McMillan, broker with Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate in Dallas-Fort Worth.

Again, we are local in real estate. I don’t care about property in Paducah and likely never will. So that we’re not beating a dead horse, let’s add another aspect to the commentary on this paragraph. We already have all this data! What?!?!? We already have all this data! Yes. It’s true. We get tax information from the central appraisal district where the property resides. We obtain legal filings at the court house or online if the matter is federal. We can get flood plain data from any one of several GIS (Geographic Information Systems) in this or surrounding counties. So why spend all this money, time, and effort creating an RPR? I have yet to hear a good answer, although I have some cynical thoughts as to why.

…

RPR™ is not a national MLS, and will carry no offers of cooperation and compensation, Stinton added. “It is a private, NAR members-only benefit. The assets acquired by NAR will be directed through a wholly owned subsidiary corporation, Realtors® Property Resource, LLC,” Stinton said.

The management team of RPR™ includes CEO Dale Ross, co-founder of the Metropolitan Regional Information System, the country’s largest regional MLS; President Marty Frame, former General Manager of Cyberhomes; Senior Vice President of Industry Relations Mona Steen, former SVP with Cyberhomes; and Jeff Young, NAR director of the Realtors® Property Resource™ and 2008 president of the Michigan Association of Realtors®.

Seems like another Realtor.com deal to me. NAR has an essentially captive audience of consumers, read members, and partners with a technology provider to use our data to resell us a product. I’m not sure if you’re aware, but that $50 per listing per year that you pay to Realtor.com to have your listings on there is exactly what I describe above. Just for a little kicker, throw in the fact that the reason people come to realtor.com is that they publish data on listings that you take and you’ll really feel the love.

RPR™ will provide nationwide access to public record information such as tax and assessment data, liens, zoning, permits, environmental information, and information on neighborhoods, school district and community demographics, along with advanced search features for property searchers, as well as market-to-market comparisons and referral opportunities not currently available.

Yep. So we already covered the fact that you can get all this data locally as paid for by your taxes or fees. Now I see this as potentially poking the bear (DoJ). The public and DoJ LOVE NAR. I mean, the DoJ loves to make sure that NAR isn’t a monopoly or engaging in anti-trust practices. That said, WHY create a GIANT target for the public and DoJ to use for the next round of anti-real estate association sentiment? Could it be that there are other, more lucrative plans for the RPR?? Maybe there is a large market out there for this and all NAR needs is to create it on the backs of it’s members, wait for the DoJ to complain, and then voila, sorry Realtor members, but now we have to open this system up to any paying entity, BY COURT ORDER. Ok, I know this could be construed as a little Alex Jones and all, but based on the last 7 years of NARs technology direction, I have no doubt that the individual member’s interest are subordinate to making money.

…

RPR™ will develop business strategies to make it affordable and feasible for NAR members, and will complement, not compete with, MLSs and CIEs.While many MLS and CIE systems provide a range of services, no two are alike. Brokers are looking for tools that support their agents across multiple markets with similar service levels and access to robust and valuable data. RPR™ is designed to support local MLS and CIE models to create a common experience for agents and brokerages.
…

For more information on the Realtors® Property Resource™, visit www.realtor.org/about_nar/realtors_property_resource.

Check out the latest from Inman on RPR.  I doubt my comments will be there long given the pro-RPR sentiment there, but you can always try and see.

Of course, the folks at RPR are busily spinning this beast as fast as she will go and only time will tell what’s to come. Would love to hear other REALTOR’s feedback!

Nothing like trying to get the real down low on our own association’s doings. It’s like trying to figure out what our local MLS is doing. Makes you recognize the clip below!

One of the great advantages of living in Texas is the outstanding quality of the chili produced here in the Lone Star State. While most historians believe chili con carne was first widely served in San Antonio starting in the 1860s, the exact origins of this uniquely Texan dish are unknown. Some theorists believe that the spices used in the first chili dishes were originally from the Canary Islands of Spain and brought over by immigrants to the San Antonio area; certainly cumin is one of the favored spices in Morocco and the Canary Island area. Chili powder was not invented until the 1900s, and revolutionized the art of chili making by providing an easy way to measure the amount of fiery spice and allowing cooks to standardize their chili recipes.

You've not had chili until you've had it Texas style!

Most Austin chili purists insist that true Texas-style chili con carne should contain no beans. This also makes it much more versatile as a side dish or accompaniment to tamales, nachos, hot dogs, and hamburgers. At a minimum, most chili recipes include chili peppers, garlic, onions, and cumin; most contain chicken, venison, pork or beef. Some chili recipes include tomatoes, but historically they have no place in a classic Texas chili pot. While some vegetarian chili recipes exist and may be quite popular, most chili experts do not class them as true Texas chili. Meat is the main ingredient in Texas chili, and the second most prominent ingredient is the chili peppers themselves, making this a spicy warm-up on cold winter evenings.

Austin boasts some outstanding chili restaurants, from the ubiquitous Chuy’s to the Saturday night Firehouse Chili special at Houston’s. Many Austin residents swear by the chili served at the Waterloo Ice House locations; what it lacks in spice, it makes up for in outstanding ingredients and a first-rate recipe. The Alamo Draft House offers a unique movie-going experience along with a sirloin-based cup of moderately spicy chili to keep you warm while you watch. Perhaps the most famous chili parlor in all of Austin, however, is the Texas Chili Parlor; a favorite among locals, the restaurant itself is something of a dive, but is so well known it was used as a setting by Quentin Tarantino in the movie “Death Proof,” which starred Kurt Russell. A down-home beer joint, the Texas Chili Parlor serves up bowls of chili ranging from the single X mild to the famed XXX, which is rumored to require a release form before it can be served to customers. Vegetarian and black bean chili dishes are also on the menu at this Austin landmark. Whichever establishment you prefer, Austin has something to please the palate of even the most particular chili lover.

The Austin Marathon has grown every year since it's inception. Expect the trend to continue as central Texans stay healthy.

Long-distance runners in training for the Boston Marathon are eagerly awaiting Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2010, when the AT&T Austin Marathon will be held. Runners will traverse a scenic course along the Colorado River and the Town Lake area, and will spend a portion of their time in the beautiful rolling trails of Austin Hill Country. The full marathon course is the regulation 26.2 miles, but a half-marathon spanning 13.1 miles is also available for less experienced runners. Congress Avenue Bridge marks the starting line for this popular event, which is scheduled to start at 7:00 and is expected to last for about seven hours; the finish line at 4th and Congress Avenue is expected to draw especially large numbers of sightseers and well-wishers on race day.

The Austin Marathon has been named the Greenest Race in North America by Runners World magazine, and is considered the fastest course in the state of Texas; additionally, the course is arranged in a loop to allow easy access to the start and finish lines from a number of local hotels. Because the Austin Marathon is a qualifying race for the Boston Marathon, it attracts participants from all over the country. Since about 80% of runners come from outside the Austin area, local hotels are expected to be booked to near capacity for the Valentine’s Day weekend.

The Austin Marathon and Half-Marathon festivities will include almost 40 Austin bands playing at the Paramount Theater to entertain spectators at this popular race. Twenty-six rest stations offering water and Powerade will be strategically placed along the route, along with medical personnel from Seton Health Care who will monitor the condition of runners as they progress through the course. The water stops will be hosted by 26 Miles for 26 Charities as in years past; this organization allows charities to raise public awareness and funds by showcasing local agencies including the Austin Children’s Shelter, Blue Dog Rescue, Colin’s Hope, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, and St. Jude Heroes among many others.

For runners who are not ready to take on the Austin Marathon or Half-Marathon, the Paramount 5K run offers a lower level of challenge along with food, drinks, and merriment after the race. On the Friday and Saturday before, the Austin Marathon and Half-Marathon Health & Fitness Expo will be held at the Palmer Events Center; vendors from throughout the area will be on hand to demonstrate and display their merchandise for runners and visitors. A large turnout is expected for these events, so spectators are advised to arrive early to claim the best observation spots along the route.

Very modern look, very modern technology!

Austin residents may soon get their first look at the ZeroHouse, a high-tech solution to the energy crisis that offers off-grid self-sufficiency for homeowners. Plans for the prototype include water conservation technology, a sizable composting unit, and two large solar energy panels; these features are intended to produce all the energy and water needed by residents within the house. Designed by Austin architects Scott Specht and Louise Harpman, the ZeroHouse requires no outside power or water supply and is designed to sit on four stainless-steel pillars; thus, it requires a minimal environmental footprint and is prefabricated for easy construction.

Specht and Harpman are seeking an investor to finance the building of the prototype, which is expected to cost between $300,000 and $350,000. The ZeroHouse will provide 650 square feet of interior living space and covered exterior decking that adds 250 more square feet outside; the architects are looking for someone to finance and live in the home, which they hope to construct in the Austin area. The prototype plans are optimized to provide the maximum amount of livable space for residents, and incorporates highly energy-efficient appliances and electronics in order to use the smallest amount of resources possible, making this home an environmentally sound choice for consumers.

The ZeroHouse is the latest addition to the class of net-zero houses, which boast that they are completely self-sustaining and have a net energy cost of zero, since they produce as much energy as they require. The ZeroHouse produces power through two sizable solar panels and collects and filters rainwater for household use; waste processing and disposal is accomplished by the automated composting system located under the house. This allows it to function off-grid, or without accessing the local electric company’s supply; in practice, these houses are generally hooked up to the local system and are compensated for the energy they supply to companies like AustinEnergy.

Austin is a leader in the green technology industrial market; this makes it a logical choice for Specht and Harpman’s project. City leaders have agreed to require that all new residential construction must be net-zero capable beginning in 2015; while this will not always be immediately possible due to differences in ground cover and lot placement, the goal is expected to spur even more green construction in Austin. The ZeroHouse is not for everyone; its high cost of construction and avant-garde styling may not suit all buyers. The lessons learned and the techniques used in its construction, however, are expected to carry over into traditional home building practices and reduce overall energy costs in Austin over the long run.

Employers finding the lure of the Central Texas hill country are moving to Austin in droves!

Austin officials recently announced a proposed $500,000 package of incentives for the Hanger Orthopedic Group to facilitate its planned relocation to Austin. The proposal is expected to provide $50,000 per year for ten years providing that Hanger meets certain stipulations. Hanger is an industry leader in medical equipment, prostheses, and orthotics and is relocating to Austin from Bethesda, Maryland. While current employees of the Hanger headquarters in Maryland will be given the opportunity to relocate, the company is expected to provide as many as 100 jobs for the local employment market.

Austin has participated in such agreements with other companies, most notably the 62.9 million dollar tax incentive package offered to Samsung Austin Semiconductor for the construction of a second plant that is expected to provide 500 jobs to Austin residents upon completion. Other significant incentive packages were provided to the television show “Friday Night Lights” and $37 million over 20 years to The Domain multi-use commercial and residential development in North Austin, slated to create 1,100 jobs. The latest set of incentives continues Austin’s tradition of proactive recruitment of jobs for its economy.

Hanger chose Austin as the site for its new headquarters in part because it already had a major subsidiary located here; Innovative Neurotronics manufactures the WalkAide system, a neuromuscular stimulating device that provides additional mobility to spinal cord patients and those living with multiple sclerosis. Austin also provides significant benefits to high-tech employers like Hanger, with a highly-educated workforce and respected institutions of higher education nearby. Company officials also cited the high quality of life available in the Austin area as a factor in their decision; Austin is widely regarded as one of the best places to live in the entire U.S. A large part of the decision, however, is due to Austin’s business-friendly policies, which are designed to attract and retain employers for the area. Austin’s central location will assist Hanger in communications with its subsidiaries throughout the country, and is expected to help the company improve its financial bottom line performance.

Austin has weathered the recent economic downturn better than most other cities in large part due to active recruitment of new employers and businesses to the area. Austin and Texas government officials have been aggressive and proactive in offering incentives for investment in the region, ensuring that the vibrant Austin economy continues to grow. The addition of the Hanger headquarters is expected to make Austin even more desirable as a location for new business, especially in the medical and pharmaceutical fields.